Raphael Counts 'Em All
by Zarius
Summary: (Fred Wolf Cartoon) Raphael's memories are great...at least when the subject is his favourite tv shows! Donatello's latest experiment attempts to provide a solution to this, but is remembering everything all it's cracked up to be? Meanwhile, Shredder unleashes the dangerous Pulse, which leaves two of the Turtles with an experiance they CAN easily forget.
1. Chapter 1

**TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES:**

**"RAPHAEL COUNTS 'EM ALL"**

**WRITTEN BY ZARIUS**

**NOTE: This story takes place after "Turtles Forever" and is Book Three of a Ten-Book Series. The first two are: "So Long, No Thanks For All The Fish" And "My Seer, My Secretary".**

**DISCLAIMER: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are trademarked by Nickelodeon, characters from the 80s cartoon are properties of Fred Wolf. All original characters are mine.**

* * *

**CHAPTER ONE**

Leonardo stayed calm as the sweat dripped down his forehead. His eyes were tightly shut, and all his hearing could focus on was the clattering of a nearby fan blowing a soft breeze into his face. He was seated on a small wooden chair situated in the centre of the Turtle's sewer lair beneath New York. Observing him was his sensei, Splinter

"Concentrate Leonardo" Splinter advised as he saw Leonardo strain himself.

"Do not fixate yourself on the exact detail of memory, simply project the moment and the lesson attached to it"

Leonardo complied, "I see Master" he said, "I see the moment...it is a day of winter, where the sun should be at it's peak, but evil forces had greatly reduced it in size, the city was frozen, bridges were filled with snow...caving in under the weight"

"Have you pinpointed the moment yet Leonardo?" Splinter asked. Leonardo concentrated harder, "Yes Sensei", he said, "the bridge is the moment...it bulked, it collapsed, cutting people off from exiting the city, I was shocked at the damage done"

"And in that moment, what lesson did you learn?" Splinter asked of his student.

"I..realized I had spent so much time worrying about myself, that I didn't have time for other people's worries...I realized I had been a fool to doubt myself when so many other things were in doubt, someone had to make a difference, I opted to go back to my brothers and lead them against this thereat. We succeeded, the sun was restored, the threat of early winter had passed... I was...myself again"

"Splendid Leonardo, let this memory define your sense of purpose for many more years to come" Splinter said, offering his congratulations. Leonardo bowed and walked away, as he did so, he bumped into Donatello

"Your turn", he said

"Gee Master, are you really going to do this with all of us?" Donatello asked, "We've had plenty of adventures over the years, lots of moments have defined us, why should one memory mean the most when we have a whole catalogue to choose from?"

"Memories are a gap between action and awareness Donatello" Splinter explained, "One specific journey is what makes us take all our later steps with a clearer understanding of what to do when we reach them.

The lesson learned from that one special moment ties the separate days and years into one complete picture of a life lived, and lived matching the highest of expectation"

Donatello sighed and sat down, "Fine" he said, "I just don't see the point of being content with one life lesson over the thousands we've picked up on"

"If you feel this is a challenge for you Donatello, you have my permission to express it as creatively as you can, perhaps you will teach me to think differently" Splinter said, offering Donatello an opportunity to make his case. Donatello thought hard, the wheels in his head turning, forming ideas, forming solutions. Finally, he hit one

"I have it Master" he said, ecstatic.

"Good", Splinter said, "But it must wait, for right now I have your time, and you must spend it with your moment"

"Trust me Master, after this exercise, you may need to re-evaluate me, I believe I'm going to have a moment or two" Donatello quipped

As Donatello began his exercise, Leonardo returned to the living area of the lair, where Michelangelo was chatting to April on the Turtle-Com, a laptop computer nested on his legs, and Raphael was flicking through tv channels

"Anything interesting going on guys?" Leonardo asked

"Splinter really got us up early for these "memory jogs", the marathons of my favourite show haven't even started" Raphael said, annoyed, "Just this annoying P.B.S special about Bakers"

"What's up with Mike?" Leonardo asked

"Oh he's discovered the "joy" of writing online fan fiction, and like 90.99% of the planet's population, he's failing miserably at it" Raphael replied, "April loaned him a laptop to work on and she's been his beta-reader. If you ask me, she's got her work cut out for her"

"Mike, it's not "cosy", it's "cozy", I know it looks wrong on the spell-checker, but that's exactly how it's pronounced" April said over the Turtle-Com, "And I don't think Ace Duck would step in dinosaur excrement, this IS a children's cartoon you're writing about, don't try to make it all about gross toilet humour, also "prescience" is actually "presence"

"Gee, I didn't think writing came with so many requirements...can't we write whatever we want so long as it makes you peachy?" Michelangelo asked

"That's the easiest thing in the world to do Mike, but that's why writers don't do it, they have an obligation to an impressionable audience, not just keen minds, not just experienced minds, but young minds as well" April explained. "Don't worry, you're doing fine, I'll drop by the lair this afternoon and we can polish your story up together"

"What are you going to be doing this morning April?" Leonardo asked, commandeering the Turtle-Com

"Oh, just doing a Channel Six special on the Bakers' Dozen Summit that's taking place downtown" April revealed, "Leading baker Brad Dallas has a major announcement to make regarding a new top-secret recipe he's been working on in conjunction with some of the world's most brilliant bakers, he claims it's going to change how the world thinks about not just food, but everything"

"Food for thought, I like the notion" Raphael said.

"Ok Raph, you're up for a bit of memory jogging" Donatello said, having completed his exercise. Raphael was less than impressed

"Oh come on Don, can't it wait 'till after the season premiere of my favourite show?" he said

"You're a Mutant Turtle, the days of being slow on these things should be left to your infancy" Donatello added, pointing in the direction from whence he came, "Now get to stepping"

Reluctantly, Raphael got up and, in a sulk, marched over to Splinter and the inevitable mental taxation that awaited him

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Meanwhile, from their Technodrome base situated on the far side of the moon, dark forces conspired to misbehave. Shredder, Krang, Rocksteady and Bebop were huddled together around the vast monitor in the central control room, watching the PBS special on Baker Brad Dallas.

"I don't understand your fascination with this man Krang" Shredder complained, "I know our catering budget is a tad low and all our fridges are empty, but we need to think more about getting the Technodrome fully operational, not making sure our stomachs are completely full"

"Maybe if your nose did a little sniffing, you'll find our situation lines up perfectly well with what these bakers are offering in their ovens" Krang replied, and brought up photographs of Dallas and his fellow bakers.

"These are not just ordinary bakers" Krang said, "They are, in secret, some of the most brilliant scientific minds ever assembled. Hiding behind this simple disguise they have been perfecting a formula that heightens the concentration levels and gives the person who takes it a greater understanding of how the most overcomplicated things work and how the greatest of problems can be easily and quickly solved. With such a formula in our possession, we will be able to broaden our own minds and work out how to unlock the full potential of the Technodrome"

"So what do you want us to do? Go down there armed with mittens?" Shredder asked

"Secure the formula" Krang ordered, "Either capture someone who knows it, or take the very bake that contains it and bring it back here"

"Oh, I'd love to get my licks in on that" Bebop said, letting out a huge snort.

"Yeah, can we have a little taste boss, please?" Rocksteady pleaded.

"I have to admit, it's a most appetising plan Krang, but we all know it's doomed to fail so long as the Turtles are about" Shredder pointed out

"Must you be such a pessimist?" Krang replied. "Should the Turtles interfere, they will find us more than prepared. Rocksteady, fetch _the pulse_

Rocksteady complied and soon brought back a small grey triangle

"Yes Krang, and what hole do you think this shape goes through?" Shredder asked sarcastically

"Do not underestimate the sheer magnitude of what this small shape can provide" Krang replied, "This is will ensure the Turtles will be reduced to nothing more than a very distant memory"


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO**

Raphael sat down, Splinter watching him. Raphael tensely laughed and waved a little at his sensei, Splinter gave Raphael a thumbs up

"In your own time Raphael" he said, Raphael closed his eyes and began nodding his head back and forth, playing a song in his head to get him in the mood, he wasn't used to sitting down and doing just nothing.

He soon let the music in his head get to him, and began to sing along to the tune he'd conjured up, Splinter interrupted him with a deliberate cough. Raphael quickly shut up and proceeded with the exercise

"Cast your mind back, become a stream of air as you are pulled into the wisps of remembrance" Splinter advised, Raphael tried his best, putting together pictures in his head, though many were scrambled, some were quite clear. As he remembered, the images conjured up a delightful smirk to Raphael's face.

"Ah, you recall a moment of jubilation" Splinter said, "Concentrate and let me know of it, and what lesson such a moment brought you, you can do it".

Raphael taxed himself, and, as Leonardo did before him, began to buckle under the strain of pulling the images together, small sweat glands ran down his forehead. The room had gone deathly quiet, permitting Raphael all the solitude required to complete the task. Finally, his eyes snapped open.

"Her" he said. Splinter was quite interested, "A woman? Interesting...What can you tell me about...her?"

"Her eyes were the most dazzling black" Raphael began, "like the inside of a cauldron, she had her hair tied back and a smile that could knock down a herd of elephants, but she was trouble too, she could take you on a wild ride and get everyone to play her game, even if she cared about you, it was her way or no way"

"And what was her name?" Splinter asked.

"The rebellion called her...Dismaya" Raphael revealed "Fourth Princess of the Galactic Prism, home to the alien Tarvan, sworn enemies of the Earth alliance, only one man ever stands in their way...Slate Slabrock" he concluded, jumping out of his chair and pointing to the sky.

"Raphael, are you taking this seriously?" Splinter asked. Raphael sat back down, looked at his sensei, and looked at him with accusing eyes

"Of course Sensei, I'm always serious about my favourite tv show, "T_he Adventures of Slate Slabrock (and his many alien girlfriend)", _they've brought me so many great memories and taught me so much about life...well, at least what life is like on other planets"

"This is not a general knowledge quiz Raphael" Splinter said, angered slightly by Raphael's lack of sincerity regarding the exercise, "There will come a time where your moment will matter to all around you, and only with that moment and lesson will you overcome your most persistent problems in the future"

"Sensei, c'mon, let me be light about this, I can conjure up any old memory anytime" Raphael insisted

"Yeah, but of what ,your life as a Turtle, or your life as a tv junkie?" came a familiar voice as Donatello walked over to them. "How about we put your knowledge to the real test?"

"What have you got boiling in that brain of yours this time Donatello?" Raphael said. Donatello grabbed him by the hand and began dragging him over to the lab to show him

"Don't worry" he said, "If everything pans out, none of us will ever have to go through these exercises again, our moments will be as instant as our reflexes" he said.

As the two vanished from view, Splinter looked back on the now empty chair and sighed.

"It is little wonder Donatello's defining moment was surviving a building falling on him" he said, "Rising from debris raises the ego to great heights"

**-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-**

At the Bakers Dozen summit downtown, April was getting ready for her morning broadcast, she applied a layer of lipstick to her mouth, examined her looks her compact mirror, and stepped out of the news van, fresh and ready for the days' events. A massive crowd had gathered outside the chain of stores and restaurants, a large display of cakes, cookies, loafs, and bagels, all stacked on a large table that stretched far across the street, awaited her. Under orders, she couldn't partake of any of them, something which extended to other members of the news crew.

"April, must we keep our hands off these delicious looking muffins until the broadcast is finished?" complained Vernon as he greeted her, "I had to skip breakfast because of this assignment"

"Think less with your stomach and be like everyone watching at home, hungry for news" April said, dismissing Vernon's needs, she stood outside the entrance to the chain of eating establishments and awaited the arrival of Brad Dallas.

In an alleyway to the far right of her, a wooden door materialized in thin air and slowly creaked open, from it emerged Shredder and his bumbling henchmen.

"I can't believe Krang gave the portal that desktop image again" Shredder hissed, "I told him I never wanted to see it again after that fiasco in Japan"

"Gee boss, maybe next time you should ask for a window" Bebop remarked, "After all, that's usually full of opportunity"

"A glass window wouldn't be a bad idea...provided I could always throw you two into it and crack it open" Shredder retorted. "Now shut up and follow my lead, and don't forget to bring the Pulse"

Rocksteady and Bebop obeyed and the two left the alleyway, they kept their distance from the crowd, they watched as April began conducting her interview with Brad Dallas, a very slender looking man with a twirly moustache and an extravagantly large chef's hat

"Mr. Dallas, you and the remaining bakers have been hard at work arranging so many exquisite treats for the fine folk of New York, that many think your latest project could really take the biscuit" April said, "Will it rise like flour or will it pop like a bad soufflé?"

"I think this particular project has a real formula for success Ms O'Neil" Dallas replied, "An ingredient than will make even the most fattening foods feel like they've left a real imprint on the mind as well as the body"

"And what of the body?" April asked, "Aren't you concerned that, while your new secret ingredient may strengthen mental prowess, it will prevent people from partaking in healthier activities and eating healthier foods?"

"Not at all Ms O'Neil" Dallas replied, "In fact, our new range of bakes contain flavours that simulate everybody's favourite diets, they needn't miss out at all, and we'll be applying the ingredient to them as well so that both worlds can be savoured"

"Someone I don't think you get the point sir" April replied, Dallas took exception to this

"The point is Mss O'Neil, that everyone loves a good bit of iced dough between the teeth, it gives them comfort, it gives them a delight that salty foods and sickly looking soup can't hope to provide. I take great pride in my bakes"

"And pride is always when the cookie crumbles" proclaimed a sinister voice .Everyone turned around to see three ghoulish figures standing before them, figures all to familiar to April

"Shredder" April said in alarm as she identified them.

Because of the high-profile nature of the summit, and the teeming crowds present, there were obviously going to be police officers on hand, and one stepped up to the plate

"Ok fella, take your weird pets and make your way back to the costume store down that way. We're in no mood for your party-crashing"

"We're no one's pets " Rocksteady uttered

"You've got your finger on the pulse where that's concerned Rocksteady, use it" Shredder advised, Rocksteady complied and produced the triangular device, pointing it in the direction of the cop. He pressed a small button on the device. A shot of electrical energy was shot towards the cop, it struck him in the head like a sharp dart. The cop froze for just a second, then began swaying from side to side, making babyish noises.

The crowd could sense that, whatever had just transpired, that it was trouble. With their protection compromised, they began to panic, and they parted like the red sea, scrambling in all directions. Shredder walked through the crowd heading towards Dallas, who backed away, trying to make it back to his shop.

April grabbed the camera from Vernon and approached Shredder, trying to get his face into focus

"Say cheese Shredder" April said, "You've got a face made for "Most Wanted""

"Really? I didn't know you found my features so appealing" Shredder replied, turning his attention away from Brad, giving him the chance he needed to slip into the cafe and bolt the door. Shredder realized his mistake too late, he ran up to the door and tried to open it, straining at the knob, but couldn't budge it

"Fooled by flattery, how embarrassing" he said, turning back to April. "No matter, Dallas won't be going anywhere, and I've got more than one key to the kingdom" he boasted, looking at Rocksteady.

"Whatcha looking at me for?" he said. Shredder picked him up and charged at the door, using Rocksteady and his horn as a battering ram, the bolted door came loose , granting Shredder access to the frightened Dallas. Shredder was pleased to find Brad wasn't alone, as at his side were the rest of the brilliant bakers Krang had told him of earlier.

"Well, well, quite a menu on display" Shredder cackled, "All that's missing is Gordon Ramsey"

April noticed that Shredder was too preoccupied to be worrying about her

"Whatever they're after, they seem to be favouring these guys over me, which gives me the window I need" she said, and activated her Turtle-Com, "Guys, come in, please"


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER THREE**

April's attempts to contact the Turtles temporarily fell on deaf ears, for in his haste to watch Donatello conduct his latest experiment, Michelangelo had left the device on the couch along with his laptop.

Huddled together in Donatello's laboratory, the four Turtles were bearing witness to yet another of Donatello's strange contraptions. A strange greenish orb wired up to all sorts of cables, which in turn were connected to a chair made of pure steel.

"Have a seat Raph" said Donatello. Raphael knocked on the chair with a clenched fist, amazed at it's authenticity. "Smooth, solid construction job genius" he said, "But you gotta let me know why I ought to step into THIS steel mill"

"Oh I'll tell you when Sensei gets here" Donatello said

"You know...Splinter said something about us being equals years ago, why do we still call him sensei?" Michelangelo asked.

"Because it's like your father saying it's ok to go by his first name, we find it disrespectful" Leonardo explained "...Besides, he was having a rare lapse of confidence when he stepped down as master, he realized that so long as life is lived, there will always be masters and students. It is our destiny to learn"

"Yeah, maybe he can apply that learning to basic English grammar sometime" Michelangelo lamented, thinking back to his literary "masterpiece"

Soon Splinter arrived, curious as the others to what Donatello was up to. Donatello took this as a sign to grab Raphael and force him into the chair, almost as if he needed to keep to a specific schedule

"Throwing me into the proverbial moat with no explanation? Are you feeling alright Donny?" Raphael said, slightly panicked as Donatello plugged the loose cables onto special locks at both sides of the chair. He quickly snapped them shut around Raphael's wrists so he couldn't escape

"Explain your anxiousness Donatello" Splinter asked, a little unnerved by Donatello's arrogance, a side-effect, seemingly, from his confidence-boosting memory jog earlier.

"Not to worry you two" Donatello assured both Raphael and Splinter, "All is good to go, I'm about to put Raphael's mind through it's paces, and should it all work out well, there's a good chance this is a memory that won't be soon, if ever, forgotten, it'll be on the tip of our tongues forever, same with everything else we can recollect"

"I'm thinking his "defining moment" should have been when he was under pressure to fix Burne Thompson's satellite dish" Michelangelo whispered to Leonardo "At least then we knew our lives depended on not screwing up, here I'm not so sure Don knows what he's risking"

Leonardo grabbed Donatello by the hand , halting him before he could plug a massive cable into the glowing electrical orb atop the chai

"Just what is going on Don?" he asked, "What is this thing?"

"The CITY" Donatello revealed, "Connect Into Tomorrow & Yesterday, a device that specialises in projecting a permanent map of the memory components of the brain, here, while Raph absorbs all this baby can take, I'll put up a virtual demonstration on my computer"

"Can't you just run the demo first?" Michelangelo said

"And wait ages for the results to kick in? I've got no time for that guys" Donatello insisted, and motioned for Leonardo to let go of his arm so he could finish applying the cable to the apparatus.

"He sure is a little cocky today" Leonardo observed, "Any idea what's up with him Master?"

"A building fell on him" Splinter said, confusing Leonardo further. Splinter chuckled at being the only one who got the joke.

With final preparations complete, Donatello looked at Raphael with a smile

"Remember this Raph, you and I are both about share a moment" Donatello declared. Raphael struggled, but couldn't budge

"Yeah, well if this goes wrong, you'll remember today for that wonderful shine on your right eye" Raphael joked. Donatello grinned mischievously and threw the switch.

The room temporarily darkened, lights flickered on an off, the orb above the chair began to spin, getting faster and faster, the electrical neurons inside of it began to scatter and spit out of it, travelling down the cables and coursing through Raphael's body. His body buckled and shook violently, his eyes glazed over. Inside his mind he could see so many things, faces and vehicles and locations, all taking the place of large emerald-like virtual buildings in his mind, with his memories slowly slotting into small window frames.

At Donatello's computer, the same imagery Raphael was experiencing was being shown to Leonardo and Michelangelo on the screen.

"This is what Raph should be seeing in his mind right now" Donatello said, "CITY operates on a wide multi-memory optional layout, if the user wants to bring up a specific time, date, face, place, then his will will, in a matter of seconds, file through the corresponding indexed file and pull up the visuals, name, anything to do with the memory and immediately register it in the cerebral cortex"

"Come again?" Michelangelo asked

"It's like tapping into a phone book, only like Keanu Reeves" Leonardo explained, offering up a more basic description to his light-headed sibling.

"Sounds like a great idea for a story, I'll get my laptop and start writing down notes" Michelangelo said, preparing to run off. Donatello wasn't impressed. "Wouldn't you rather stay and see my work in effect Mike?" he asked.

"No way dude, I don't think there's space in the room for you, me, Leo and your ego" Michelangelo joked, and darted back to the living area

"What did he mean by that?" Donatello asked. Leonardo was more concerned about Raphael, who whose body was beginning to simmer down.

"Ah, the procedure will be complete then" Donatello said, and walked over to release Raphael from his bonds. Raphael took his time getting out of the chair, feeling somewhat disoriented. Eventually, he came around and tried standing up, his legs felt very shaky and he almost allowed himself to drop to the floor, he stabilised himself by holding on to the sides of the chair, then grabbing Leonardo's hands. It took a few more moments, but he eventually began walking under his own power.

Donatello felt a little guilty seeing Raphael in such a bad way, but he believed the risks taken with him would prove to be a fruitful one

"Raph, you ok?" Leonardo asked, "You look pretty banged up"

"I need a moment...boy, what am I saying? I've got all the moments I'll ever need" Raphael said, remarkably restrained at what gifts had just been granted to him. Raphael turned to Splinter

"I'd like to give that memory jog of yours another whirl" Raphael said. Donatello urged Splinter to give him a chance. Splinter was hesitant. "I feel you are only committed to this now out of a desire for play Raphael, not to know your limits" he said

"Oh relax, just ask me a question, any" Raphael replied. An excited Donatello was keen to ask first.

"Ok, what can you tell us about our adventures recovering the fragments of the Eye of Zarnoth?" he asked

Raphael commenced his digging, in a span of seconds, he rattled off the answer, re-enacting their experiences physically, "We were training in the park" he began, pulling off a few generic moves, "Mikey put on a dumb Shredder disguise for some reason, suddenly, there was a huge explosion, we looked up in the sky, there it was, a sleek looking star ship in freefall, falling apart, it crashed into the lake, we dived in to investigate and found this weird purple alien, we took him to the surface and learned of the alien crystal, and that it had been spilt into fragments, he gave us a tracking device before passing away. Shredder beat us to the punch on finding each of them though. He bested us for the first fragment and shrunk us down to the size of ants, we were almost swept away by a road sweeper before making it back to the sewers, where Master Splinter just had to make use of the word "large problem"..."

"Couldn't he have just given us the cliff notes?" Leonardo said to Donatello as Raphael continued to fire off the specifics of the Turtles' adventures. Donatello, however, didn't mind the rambling one bit, he was far too proud of the results of his latest creation.

"A fascinating and disciplined recollection Raphael" Splinter said, "But what did you learn from it?"

Raphael stopped in mid-sentence, pondering this over, this would soon be cut short however, as Michelangelo suddenly burst back into the lab, holding his Turtle-Com in hand.

"Big trouble in the little places guys" he said, holding up the turtle-com to show April

"Guys, where have you been? I've been trying to contact you for thirty minutes" April said.

"Sorry April, we've all been subject to Donatello's latest round of fifteen famous minutes" Leonardo replied, "What's up?"

"Shredder and his goons have crashed the Bakers Dozen summit, he's taken Brad Dallas and his colleagues hostage"

"Don't sweat it April" Raphael said, "Old tin-grin will regret tussling with Turtles who once sent him packing back to Dimension X with a rocket well and truly up his Technodrome"

"What he means is "we're on our way"" Leonardo assured her, "Come on Turtles,. let's cream that cretin"

"Yeah, and while we're whipping him, we might as well do it with the whip-cream" Michelangelo added

**-0-0-0-0-0-0-**

Back at the summit, Shredder was eyeing up the row of bakes on the outside of the shop, trying to deduce exactly which one contained the formula he was seeking

"So many delicious options, but only one of them will satisfy our hunger for greater knowledge" he said to himself, he took a lick of one of the cakes icing, he detected a layer of coconut, but didn't feel any more special.

Rather than spend hours filling his stomach until it burst, he opted to go back inside and force the information out of the frightened bakers

"Ok, level with me, which one of you knows the full formula?" he asked, grabbing one of the bakers and holding him close to his face, staring into him with penetrating, devilish eyes, "Talk, or your soufflés won't be the only thing going in the oven"

"Please, he doesn't know, none of us do, I beg of you" Brad suddenly interrupted. This news made all of his friends react in shock.

"Brad, what are you saying? We perfected the formula together, we left the final touches to you and you came up with the final touch and we were good to go with it" said one of the bakers. Brad shook his head.

"I thought my ingredient would work, but it only made everything taste rock hard, and it certainly didn't expand the mind, just your waist-lines, like all my other works. I couldn't bear the shame of letting you down, so...I cheated. Someone offered me the formula that we eventually used for a small fee, a stack of copper quarters, quite silly come to think of it, but it was my wildest dream come true, and it was better than being the laughing stock of all of you, so I took up the offer, and now we are paying the price for my folly"

"But if you didn't come up with the formula...who did?" Shredder said, "And more interestingly, why do I feel as if I should know this already?"


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER FOUR**

Following April's directions, the Turtles soon made their way topside and joined her a few meters away from the building Shredder was keeping the bakers hostage in. They noticed the stricken cop lying nearby, his thumb in his mouth, crouched in a fetal position

"Woah, isn't he a bit big for that sort of thing?" Michelangelo said as he witnessed the cop's odd behaviour.

Donatello walked over to inspect the cop, he waved his hand in front of him, the cop didn't react, Donatello tried pulling the thumb out of his mouth, which produced _some_ type of reaction, as the cop burst into tears. Donatello inserted the thumb into the cop's mouth and his temper tantrum ended.

"Seems he's reverted to an infant-like state" Donatello evaluated.

"Times like this make me pine for the days of Rex-1" Raphael said, "Man was that a good adventure...there we were, surrounded at a fair ground by all these renegade Rex-1 duplicates, only the good old, dependable original, slightly modified by Donny and a few hundred videotapes, could hope to save us. Yeah, it took an aerobics workout to short-circuit all the renegades, but it was something that'd tax out any ordinary human or Turtle, only a robot like Rex could take on such a physically demanding challenge..."

"He's in a nostalgic mood today" April observed as Raphael rambled on.

"He better start focusing up, we need everyone's attention fixated on neutralising the hostage situation" Leonardo said.

"Sorry guys, I went on a tangent there" Raphael replied apologetically, "Reminds me of the time I got on Donatello's case for constantly talking like a 50's Bogart Detective when we were wearing trench coats, I think that was the time we were clashing with Tony "The Butcher" Vavaldi"

"Oh Donny, he's doing it again" Leonardo complained, Donatello wasn't too frustrated by it, for obvious reasons, it was, after all, the desired results of his most recent success story.

"Listen guys" April said as she suddenly picked up voices, the Turtles stood ready, arming themselves with their weapons. From out of the building came Bebop and Rocksteady licking their lips and rubbing their stomachs, leering at the cakes on display

"The boss may not be up to helping himself to this all day, but he doesn't have the belly of a beast" Bebop, taking a cupcake and swallowing it in one gulp

"Yeah, grab a plate, or better yet, a whole table, this will be worth our while" Rocksteady, picking up one such round coffee table, and titling it sideways, allowing all the iced donuts sitting on it to spill neatly into his mouth

"It definitely won't take us a while to make you gingerbreads snap" proclaimed Leonardo as he made the Turtles presence known to the two

"The Turtles" Bebop yelled, "And just before I could work on my appetite, I gotta work up one now"

The Turtles charged at the two mutants, Rocksteady went after them, Leonardo jumped over him while the other Turtles scattered left and right. Leonardo landed behind Rocksteady and taunted him, tempting him to try and attack him near the building. Leonardo backed all the way up until his shell hit the rim of the large stretch of table at the front of the cafe. Rocksteady grinned and threw himself towards the Turtles' leader, his horn aimed firmly in his direction. Leonardo suddenly somersaulted onto the table and jumped over Rocksteady, who couldn't stop his charge in time, his body hit the table, causing it to break, and his horn dented the window. Leonardo took a running charge, ran up Rocksteady's back and delivered a swift kick to the window, shattering it, he landed with a thud, right into the path of Shredder, who was standing at the entrance, blocking the bakers from exiting

"Quickly, get out through the hole I've made, just mind the glass" Leonardo said, covering the bakers as they scrambled for the broken window and their custom exit. Shredder stared down Leonardo coldly.

"Brad, consider this your last day of employment" one of the bakers uttered to him

"Fine by me, I always wanted to be a regular old chocolateer anyway" Brad replied.

Outside, Rocksteady had recovered from his spill . He was covered in layers of icing, and some of the cakes were sticking to his face. He licked most of the icing off his face with his tongue and turned his aggression on the other Turtles, he spotted Raphael being cornered by Bebop, and attempted to join him. Donatello and Michelangelo stood in his way, but this time Rocksteady seemed ready. As Donatello swung his Bo staff at Rocksteady, the man-rhino casually grabbed it and used it to hoist Donatello high up then brought the Turtle crashing to the ground before swinging the staff like a disc at a highland game and threw Donatello clear through the air and into a nearby set of garbage cans.

"What gives? He's never been that good with reflexes before" Donatello said, his head throbbing from the impact.

Michelangelo twirled his nun-chucks around, ready for anything, Rocksteady grinned, and waited for Michelangelo to start tossing it, as soon as he did so, Rocksteady grabbed it and dragged Michelangelo over to him, he took both nun-chucks and fastened them around Michelangelo like a makeshift chain, before tossing him aside. Michelangelo, unable to control his free-fall, came crashing down in the same spot Donatello had landed in near the trash cans.

"Hey, Bebop, I think I've found where those bakers stashed the ingredient that makes you smarter" Rocksteady proclaimed "I think it was that row of Gingerbread slices I fell into, the icing is coated with it"

"Good, we'll scoop them all up once we deal with this pip-squeak" Bebop said as he approached Raphael, Rocksteady joined him, cutting Raph off from a hasty exit. With Donatello and Michelangelo still incapacitated, it left Raphael isolated

"Rocksteady and a hard place Turtle" the rhino joked, adding some egotistical wit to his enlightened repertoire.

"Oh I've been in these sort of scrapes before remember?" Raphael replied, "There we were, deep in the heart of the Technodrome, we'd gone through every kind of insidious apparatus Shredder could throw at us, we made it to a large chamber, Master Splinter held high above us, bond to some rope. Shredder came in, gave us his old wretched story, offered us the chance to join the foot, I made a reference to lemon sucking he didn't particularly appreciate, and then you two fellas graced our presence for the first time...and do you know what you did next?"

Rockstedy and Bebop had tired of the war stories and charged at him, Raphael was of course counting on them to do that and promptly leapt upwards, causing the two to collide and hit one another.

"Exactly that" Raphael said as he made a perfect landing on top of Rocksteady's head, dusting off his hands, "Maybe ol' Tin-Grin should have kept those robotic counter-parts of you two around a lot longer...Super Rocksteady and Mighty Bebop, they had nuts and bolts for brains, but at least they could test our metal and made you two look like monkeys. Matter of fact, I loved how Shredder acted like a chimp that one time, I think it was on the same day we tangled with those metal headed machines..."

"Raph, a little help here" Michelangelo interrupted, still tied up in his own nun-chucks. Raphael promptly came to his assistance and untied him, the two then helped Donatello up.

"Glad you could pull yourself away from a little bit of history to help us out here Raph"

"I like the big tour of memory C.I.T.Y's given me Donny" Raphael said, "Thanks to those memories, I'm giving those cronies some old-school headaches"

"Those two seem to be going to school, I overheard Rocksteady say something about the cakes making you a major brainiac" Michelangelo revealed

Recovering from this clumsy collision, Bebop and Rocksteady assessed what had gone wrong. "I thought you said the cakes improved that noggin of yours, why'd you fall for a crude trick like the one that Turtle pulled on us" Bebop asked his partner

"I only took a lick of the icing, maybe you have to eat the whole thing" Rocksteady replied, before getting up and brushing himself down, "Let's gather up those slices before the Turtles get their hands on them"

The Turtles were, however, ready for them, two of them standing in front of the assorted tables while Michelangelo gathered up as many as he could in his hands.

Suddenly, everyone's attention was diverted by the clashing of steel, as Leonardo and Shredder emerged from the cafe, duelling with their swords.

"Hey guys, how are things?" Leonardo said as he tried to keep Shredder at bay.

"Leo, we think we have what Shredder came for" Donatello revealed. Leonardo pushed Shredder away with a swift kick and ran up to his brother. "Great" he said, "Then we'd best make a tactical retreat"

"Rocksteady, use the Pulse" Shredder commanded, Rocksteady produced the small triangular device and aimed it at Donatello, whose back was turned. Leonardo, however, managed to catch sight of it.

"Donatello, look out" he said, and threw himself in front of his brother, shielding him as a blast erupted from the Pulse, enveloping him. In seconds, Leonardo had collapsed, dropping his blade and curled up in a protective ball, his body trembling in fright, small traces of saliva dripped from his mouth.

"Raph, Leonardo's down" Donatello yelled, "Protect Mikey, he has what they want"

"Way to advertise dude" Michelangelo remarked, not appreciating the target being painted on his back. Donatello realized his mistake and let out a faint "oops".

Raphael however, decided to make a play for Shredder, who had scooped up Leonardo's sword and proceeded to confront him wielding two blades.

"So, you're trying to be a hero are you?" Shredder said, taunting Raphael.

"This is all too familiar territory for you Shredder" Raphael replied "This is just like the time me and the guys attacked you in the Technodrome all those years ago, you had two blades then, and your ego was taking up too much room, we wore you down even then, forcing you out of the machine, which was the plan, and before long you were duking it out on the streets with us while the whole time we were planning to send that thing back to Dimension X with all your forces inside of it, except for you and Krang"

"What a reliable memory, I should win a few pub quizes with you as a hostage" Shredder responded, and he lunged at Raphael, Raphael ducked the shot with the blades and kicked it out of Shredder's hand, reducing him to one sword, Raphael produced one of his sais and matched Shredder's steel, the two swayed back and forth with their weapons joined, each briefly overpowering the other in tests of strength, before standing off yet again.

"Kind of funny, your pride got in the way that time, I didn't think lightning would strike twice, but there you go" Raphael boasted, before looking to his left and seeing Donatello and Michelangelo tailed it. A fateful error Shredder quickly capitalised on.

"You're forgetting two important aspects Turtle...this time I'm not alone, and this time you're bragging and giving me fair warning. Rocksteady, open fire"

Rocksteady complied and fired two shots from the Pulse. Donatello caught sight of them and threw himself in front of Michelangelo, his bo staff caught the first blast, but the second hit the target, felling another Turtle.

"No" Raphael cried out as Donatello fell backwards. Michelangelo felt helpless, as if he tried to pick Donatello up, he would drop the cakes and leave them open to Shredder. For once, he cursed the fact he had to carry around snacks.

Before Shredder and his cronies could close in on the two Turtles, they heard a screech of tires, they turned to find the Channel Six news van heading towards them. The trio scattered, but in making the attempt, Rocksteady dropped the pulse. Before he could grab it, it met it's end as it was crushed under the wheels of the van.

The doors opened and April popped out, "I couldn't leave you guys vulnerable to Shredder while I just sat there and covered the story" she said

"I'd hug you but I'm kind of treating myself right now" Michelangelo replied. April smiled and petted him on the head instead.

"Nice driving April, you only went and mowed over the one thing that could help bring the drool school out of their slumber" Raphael said, making note of the Pulse's destruction and the hapless Turtles and policeman, "Man I wish Splinter had been driving that van, remember all the cool moves he made when rescuing us from Baxter Fly? We were almost sheep-herded into some weird electrical thing that would have placed us in some out-of-synch dimension and..."

"...Hardly think now is for nostalgia dude" Michelangelo said, cutting him off.

"Tell me about it, but I can't shake the urge to do that" Raphael said, "Worse, if I hadn't been so cocky about it, Donatello wouldn't have suffered"

Shredder cursed out his hench-mutants as he surveyed the damage and the cost of the day as several sirens could be heard in the distance

"Blast it, we're out of time" he said, "The boys in green have given the boys in blue time to rally their troops, we must take our leave" . He activated his communicator com-link to the Technodrome and requested Krang open the portal. Before long, the wooden door materialized, opened up, and sucked all three into it, before swiftly closing and vanishing from view.

"Shredder and his goons have tailed it" Raphael said, "And we better do the same, April, help me take Leo and Donny, Mikey, you go ahead, and whatever you do, don't lose any of them"

Michelangelo nodded and ran to the manhole nearby, he placed the cakes down on the ground and lifted the manhole cover off, before gathering them up again and, realizing he couldn't climb down, hoped to make a splash below as he dropped like a stone down the tunnel.

As April climbed down, Donatello slung over her shoulder, Raphael, carrying Leonardo, noticed Michelangelo had left one of the cakes on the ground

"I wonder just what it is about these things that somehow wets Shredder's appetite?" he said, and took a soft bite. He chewed on it a bit, then, as the sensation of heightened awareness swept over him, his C.I.T.Y-enhanced memories began to play up...the cake had done something more than expand his mind, it was telling him something quite different. It was_ reminding _him of something.

Something that he couldn't possibly remember.

"Oh no" he said under his breath.


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER FIVE**

Back at the Technodrome, Shredder was cursing out his mutants, and had gotten so aggravated by the day's events that he started knocking away at the control consoles with his right foot.

"That's right Shredder, thanks to you everything has a certain kick to it" Krang remarked as he tried to work.

"I can't help it Krang, we finally manage to take down two of those wretched shell-backs, yet we still can't have our cake and eat it" Shredder complained. "We must get back down there and finish the job, how soon can you create a replacement Pulse?" he asked.

"It's impossible" Krang revealed, "The Pulse operated on a certain frequency that is impossible to match using even unconventional sciences, and the metal it was constructed from is not of any origin I'm presently aware of".

"So you didn't come up with this device?" Shredder asked. Krang nodded.

"it's hard to design anything around here when you only have a limited understanding of how this upgraded hunk of tin works" he explained, "To get by on many of our recent missions, I've had to make bargains with all sorts of characters from all corners of the universe and even on Earth"

"The great warlord Krang, reduced to second-hand goods rather than his own hand, how down-market of you" Shredder taunted. Krang hung his brain in shame at this.

"Oh well, never mind that, just point me in the direction of your seller and I'll buy what we require from him or her for a hefty fee, I do have The Foot Clan's budget to play with" Shredder announced, pulling out a cheque book.

"I know, what else do you think I've been using. My paypal account is frozen up, remember?" Krang said. Shredder was beside himself with anger, he jumped up and down in a childish fit. and pounded his fist on the controls.

"How do you even know how to access my credit card?" Shredder asked. Krang elected not to answer, instead he put up an image on the monitor screen, an image of a beautiful park on the outskirts of the city encircling a large stream sewage water pouring out of a nearby sewer drain like a waterfall

"A walk in the park is not going to calm my temper" Shredder said, folding his arms and shaking his head. Krang rolled his eyes, "It's not for exercise you dim-wit, it's where I rendezvoused with my seller. He told me if there was a time I'd need him again, all I'd need do is go back there...since I have no desire to repeat my mistakes, you can go and make a mistake of your own accord, just leave me to my other work in peace"

Shredder took a look at the location, and began scratching away at his mask as if it were his chin, "There's something all too familiar about this, but my mind is a blank when it comes to piecing together what...I have this strange feeling of de ja vu"

His suspicions would pester him for the duration of the morning.

**-0-0-0-0-0-0-**

At the Turtles' lair, Splinter, April and the remaining Turtles were pondering how to best deal with the incapacitated Donatello and Leonardo, who were crawling on all fours, making gurgling noises and sniffing at the sofa like dogs, peculiar actions even for creatures that were already very peculiar.

"Those poor guys" April said, petting the helplessly confused Donatello, "is there anything we can do for them Splinter?"

"The easiest idea that comes to the heart is to give them some kind of comfort zone, but the Turtles are at their heart, proud fighters, and in this case, comfort is not what is required. We must motivate a struggle" Splinter revealed, prodding Leonardo with his stick, trying to stir him and disrupt his routine, Leonardo groaned and ultimately grabbed the stick and started sniffing it before proceeding to chew on the end.

"Ok, come on Leo, playtime's over" Raphael snapped, grabbing the stick from Leonardo, who began to cry as the object of his interest was snatched away. As he reached up to try and take it back ,Raphael kept it a distance, even going up on his tip toes and stretching his hand up higher.

"Good Raphael, make him fight for what is his" Splinter said, urging on the action, "it will drive him to fight, to attain his desire for something, and give his mental prowess proper stimulation"

"Leo's needier here than he was that one time he was brainwashed by Donny's mood-altering machine and thought life was all about having fun and playing jokes on us all, we had a field day keeping his playground attitude under control, of course..."

Before he could finish, Leonardo grabbed the stick and sank down to the ground again, putting the stick in his mouth and sucking on it as he soothed himself to sleep.

"What happened? I had it all under wraps" Raphael said. Splinter, however, had the answer on hand.

"Raphael, you were reminiscing again, in doing so, you broke your concentration and enabled your priority to take back his possession, now the fight is out of him, at least for now"

"I'm sorry Sensei, Donatello's new toy has got me counting just about everything we've gone through, it's almost becoming instinct to bring up a past experience. I feel as helpless as I was that one time I was convinced I only had days to live, again because of a false reading by one of Donny's inventions and went out into the city taking on as much crime as I could handle hoping I'd get knocked off before I kicked the bucket, then I fought that weird scientist who..."

"You're doing it again bud" Michelangelo added, interrupting his brother.

April took noticed of Michelangelo's own unique take on handling the almost infant Turtles, as he started rolling Donatello's body over to his lab

"Putting a bit of back into it Mike?" April joked

"I'm thinking maybe we can use Donny's brain machine to map out their minds again" Michelangelo revealed, "Donny seems to be getting a kick out of this as well" he added, watching the smile grow on Donatello's face, he began to make gleeful noises at the fun being had as he rolled along, he eventually didn't even require Mike's assistance, and rolled over to where C.I.T.Y was located under his own power.

"As usual Mike, you really know how to make everyone roll with it" April joked, patting Michelangelo on the back. Raphael kicked Leonardo slightly, trying to get him to do the same as Donatello, but the leader of the group stayed fixed to his spot, prompting Raphael to use both hands and roll him over much like Michelangelo had done with Donatello, hoping it would spark off some effort from Leo. It was a different story however, as Raphael eventually found himself rolling his brother all the way towards the lab

"And I thought he learned not to care so much about himself" Raphael remarked, before turning his attention to Donatello's computer, "Right, time to get the gist of this, Mikey, prep Donatello up in the chair and hook him up to the hardware, I'm going to do a scan of his mind"

"Are you the best person qualified to work that thing? You're not exactly a major at science" April said as Raphael began to type in instructions on the computer.

"It's fine April, I've got some of that Zuma-Heran juice running in my system, the cakes we brought back are laced with the stuff" Raphael explained. April was baffled, "What's a Zuma-Heran when it's at home?" she asked.

For Splinter, however, alarm bells began ringing in his head at the very mention of this. Before Raphael could begin to tell April what it was, he interrupted the two. "No doubt it is one of Raphael's odd nicknames uttered on his favourite tv show" Splinter said, elbowing Raphael, "Am I correct Raphael?"

Raphael seemed to get what Splinter was trying to convey, and, reluctantly, nodded in compliance

"April, will you tend to Leonardo please" Splinter said, "I feel if he nibbles with my stick longer, it will slowly be reduced to the kind used for playing catch with dogs"

"I'm on it Splinter" April said, moving over to Leonardo, Michelangelo finished connecting Donatello to the device and pressed the switch. Raphael began to work feverishly away at the computer, looking up the virtual map of C.I.T.Y before checking on a similar screen atop the machine that projected a map of Donatello's own mind. He was interested in the scans that came up, showing the virtual buildings, with the memories floating all over them, however, unlike with him, they were not stacking together

"Raphael" Splinter said in a low voice so neither April or Michelangelo could overhear him, "Explain yourself, how can you possibly know of that?"

"Know what Sensei?" Raphael said.

"Of Zuma-Heran?" Splinter replied. "Access to such knowledge should not be possible"

"Blame C.I.T.Y." Raphael said, "Somehow it worked too well, it not only unlocked distant memories, but also opened the lock on the ones nobody wants us knocking around"

"So you recollect the land beneath our dimension. The kingdom that is known only to select members of the Foot Clan such as myself, the world you and your fellow Turtles helped save from Shredder once upon a time..."

"..Yeah, and a world you were quick to wipe from our minds...or so you figured" Raphael replied, "Now it's all coming back up again with a real kick"

The virtual map showed the images, the memories, attempting to enter the slotted 3-D buildings, only to bounce off of them.

"Man, it's like the brain is willing to line them all up but something is freezing them in time. This is just like the day Donatello invented a machine that froze everyone in time, going against nature itself. We had a real struggle with Professor Lloyd Cycloyd when he stole the machine and..."

Raphael caught himself, "Sorry Splinter, I went off-track again, whoever thought remembrance would leave anyone a wreck?"

"Perhaps this is your test Raphael" Splinter said, "To find your moment, you must now relive that which cannot be so easily recollected"

"Are you saying I have to go back there to find a way of restoring the guy to normal, since I'm pretty sure they can be cured by going there, and work out how those cakes ended up in the world?" Raphael asked.

"I did not say anything. You yourself have made that decision and phrased your intent in the form of a question" Splinter replied

"Like asking for a Chinese takeaway" Raphael remarked.

He collected himself, and examined the computer yet again, he pondered his next move, then made his decision.

"Right then, I'll get going, but I think what I ate earlier is wearing off, I can feel my brain taking a turn back along dead end alley, so I better use my smarts to leave some instructions for Mikey on how to operate C.I.T.Y while I'm gone"

"Be certain of yourself Raphael, the journey to Zuma-Heran is a simple one, but the destination is not quite as basic. You will face great tests there, and you must rely on your wits"

"Yeah, that'll be a problem for me" Raphael said

"And why is that?" Splinter said

"Because the king of the Herans can't stand my jokes" Raphael admitted.


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER SIX**

At the park, the door representing Krang's dimensional portal popped into view and creaked open, kicking out Shredder, Rocksteady, and Bebop, with all three landing on top of each other.

"Watch where you're falling next time you idiots" Shredder said, dusting himself off. He looked at the lake, staring at for several seconds, trying to piece together the jigsaw in his mind. This area WAS familiar to him, he just couldn't place when he'd been there before. He also felt there was some hidden knowledge to this, something he had learned in his earliest days of control over The Foot clan, which somewhat connected to this, but, again, he couldn't join the dots.

He elected to contact Krang for further instructions, "We're here, now what?" he asked.

" I was experimenting with Copper materials around this area, trying to perfect some kind of high-density magnetiser, when I met my contacts. They seemed keen on my stock and offered up anything that could persuade me to part with them. I did, and I received the metal I used to develop the Pulse" Krang explained.

"So all we have to do is dig around for Copper" Shredder said, "Rocksteady, how's your wallet?"

Rocksteady was hesitant to answer, he twiddled his fingers anxiously as Shredder approached him, asking him again in a delicate tone, not quite getting angry, but making it clear he was irritated by the silence he was receiving.

"I said, "how's your wallet"? He repeated.

"Heftier than it's been in ages boss" Rocksteady saved, "I'm really saving my dough"

"Yeah well that's only because there's no malls on the moon, and we always steal stuff anyway" Bebop added.

Rocksteady was nervous, and tried to look away from Shredder, which was his mistake, as he was tilting his head upwards to look at the sky, Shredder grabbed hold of his leg and held him upside down, he grabbed Rocksteady's other and began shaking him, trying to loosen Rocksteady's wallet from his pockets. He eventually succeeded. Shredder dropped Rocksteady and scrambled for the wallet. Immediately he began throwing out anything that wasn't dirt cheap. Fresh dollar bills were cast aside and thrown onto the water. Rocksteady scrambled for them, trying to scoop them up with his hand, only to cause them to float down stream further.

Shredder finally found what he was looking for, a row of copper quarters. He hastily contacted Krang for further instructions. "I have what I need, what do we do now?" he said

Krang shrugged, "Beats me what happened next was sort of spontaneous, I don't quite remember the specifics, just that I had made a desirable deal"

"How very detailed of you" Shredder sarcastically replied. Rocksteady, in a slump, stared at his reflection in the lake. Suddenly, the reflection began to light up, he reeled back in shock

"Boss" he said, dragging himself over to Shredder's knees and cradling behind them, "The water's been set alight".

Shredder aggressively shook Rocksteady off of him and walked over to the source of the light

"Anything happening?" Krang asked. Shredder put his hand in the water, it didn't feel any stranger, but the light continued to pulse. Soon, bubbles began forming.

"I think we've just found your missing detail" Shredder said as the bubbles increased in size and number, something was stirring beneath the water, and was eager to break through like a child in the womb. In an almighty burst that soaked Shredder from head to toe, the water spiralled upwards, resembling a helix of some kind, shooting out from the lake and dancing across the helix with a beautiful looking emerald-haired woman twirling around in mid-air like an elegant ballerina. Jumping out of the water also was a peculiar dwarf-like creature with frog legs, leaping over the spiral ripples that were forming with the gentle twisting and turning of the female.

"Now there's a sight" Bebop said, marvelling at the spectacle. "She got you wet there boss" he added as he observed how drenched Shredder was.

Shredder squeezed his cape, draining it of the water intake, "Quiet you idiot" he said.

The woman soon ceased her twirls, and slowly glided down to where the trio were standing. The toad-dwarf followed her down as the water spirals fell back down to the lake, jumping off of them onto the woman's head and then to the ground.

"Right, let's get this over with shall we?" said the toad-dwarf, leaning on the soft arm of the elegant sea maiden. "You've got copper, we can smell it off you, we've got whatever you desire, let's make the trade, and do it before lunch ok?"

"Oh I've come with many things" Shredder said, producing a laser gun from his pocket, "But the only thing parting company are you two and this planet. We're giving you a first-class trip to the moon, you'll just love the space it provides" he cackled.

The maiden stood in front of the toad, shielding him from the gun. She didn't speak a word, but her intent to protect could be found in her dazzling jewelled eyes.

"It seems your maiden friend here has a desire of her own...to be a hero" Shredder said, laughing at the sincerity, "A pity there's noone more qualified in that department to help her out"

"Say, I recognize you" the dwarf said as he took the time to observe Shredder's appearance. "Tin-grin was your name wasn't it?

"The name is Shredder" the villain revealed, "And how could you possibly know me by the irritable nickname provided to me by my enemies?" he said

"Hey boss, you might want to turn around" Rocksteady said as he caught sight of something. "Not now you fool, I'm asking a question" Shredder replied.

As he aimed the gun at the maiden, her glare transfixed Bebop. "She sure is radiant when angry" he said, and, sure enough, this appeared to be literal as the maiden slowly began to glow a bright red.

"Oh you're in trouble now" the dwarf said, "As soon as Ma-Taya is charged up, you'll be charging down the road in sheer terror of what she can do"

"My patience doesn't take as long to run out as it takes your friend to power up" Shredder said, squeezing the trigger on his gun, "One shot from this, and both of you will be snared in energy shackles that no one has been able to escape from"

Shredder's finger began to press down on the trigger, Rocksteady tapped him on the shoulder, trying to get his attention. Shredder ignored him.

The dwarf closed his eyes, the maiden, Ma-Taya, continued to charge up her energies, bright bubbles of light began forming in the lake behind them, rising up and circling over the two above.

The test of wits proved tense, as Shredder felt he was firmly in control of the situation. With one squeeze, he could bring a disenchantment to this magic before it had a chance to envelop him. All it took was one reflex, one finger, and one shot.

In a matter of moments however, one shot at the dice was indeed fired, but not from Shredder. Indeed he soon found himself without the gun, as he found it embedded in a tree with a metal sai stuck to it, holding it there. A sai that had been thrown just at the crucial second Shredder was to have fired.

Shredder finally turned around to find Raphael standing before him, twirling his other sai.

"It isn't nice to threaten a dame Shredder" Raphael said, "Especially ones that are just boiling mad at you"

"Raphael? Is that you?" said the toad, confusing Shredder and his mutants further.

"Tobra? What are you doing here?" Raphael said, as baffled as the others, though for different reasons.

"Did I miss an episode of this show or something?" Bebop asked Rocksteady, "None of this feels familiar...yet somehow does"

"I know, I feel like I ought to remember that toad midget" Rocksteady replied.

"Something is gnawing away at me, a meaning, a place, a secret that was once known to me, I must have my answers" Shredder said, pointing at the maiden, "take her now, before she gets too hot to handle"

"Stay away from her Shredder" Raphael said, taking a step forward.

"Or you'll do what? Tell us another story and give us more than enough time to take what we want?" Shredder taunted.

"Oh I think anything I say pales in comparison to the story you'll be struggling to tell Krang" Rapahel snapped back, and pointed to the maiden , her energy levels were now at their peak. The bubbles above her and Tobra headed towards the treacherous trio, and slotted neatly atop their heads

"What's happening?" Shredder said, as mysterious gasses began to emit from the bubbles, slowly draining him of his liveliness. He had just enough energy to ponder just what he was doing there, and why he couldn't remember the last few minutes, before dozing off. Rocksteady and Bebop shared similar fates, and also nodded off upon inhaling the gas from the bubbles.

The three slowly began to rise up in the air, the maiden controlling their loose hold on gravity with her hands, her jewel-encrusted eyes shimmered brightly, as she pointed towards the sky and swung her arms forward, in doing so, she, without even touching them, sent Shredder, Rocksteady, and Bebop far into the distance, until they became specs of light hanging in the sky, before their twinking forms faded from view.

"What did she do to them?" Raphael asked

"Just gave them some space" Tobras replied, "They should be half-way to the moon as I finish this sentence, right where they wanted to take us"

"Fancy throwing, almost as brutal as that battering ram me and the Turtles saved Master Splinter from that one time Shredder came back and had Baxter build this huge ratcatcher that..." Raphael started, but stopped himself, "Sorry, don't want to bore you with that, you're known to like a little comedy right? Well have I got a joke that'll knock you dead, like that time..."

The maiden however, was not too keen on hearing the quips, she began to panic, and dived back into the shining lake

"What did I say?" Raphael asked. Tobras patted him on the leg

"Don't mind Ma-Taya" he said, "She's never been very good at going against the code of the kingdom, aka "don't cross people of this planet" or even "whatever you do, don't tell, or listen to, a joke", I persuaded her to join in on the fun I was having here because I didn't like the look of the last person I cut a deal with...all brains, no brawn, a bit cranky too, indicative of old age, I like my customers young and dumb"

"Customers? What do you mean?" Raphael asked, before realizing something, "You're the one who sold that recipe to that Baker Dallas didn't you?"

"Hey, I liked the look of his quarter" Tobras admitted.

"You know your kingdom's intellect-heightening herbs aren't to be used out in the real world, that's what Shredder wanted the last time remember?" Raphael snapped, "What were you thinking trying to play some kind of market up here?"

"I'm just trying to help my Landlady and her family out" Tobras revealed

"Your landlady?" Raphael asked

"Yeah, landlady Bliss RainStocking, she came up with the whole idea, we increase the intellect of the upper world, she and her sisters get enough money to hold off the tax collectors" he said, before freezing up and cutting himself off, "Hey, what am I doing telling you all this?" he swiftly snapped, You're not supposed to remember anything about me, and I know, where I come from, everyone wants to forget you and your comedy"

Tobras spat on both of his hands and rubbed them together, they began to radiate in much the same way as Ma-Taya had earlier. "Time to send you somewhere...not to the moon mind, just to dreamland, where you can forget all your current troubles"

"Wait, I need your help" Raphael said, backing away from the dwarf as he lunged towards him, "Two of my bros got zapped by some gizmo Shredder used, a gizmo that I think had your world's fingerprints all over it"

"How do you figure" Tobras asked

"Because you said you met a brain thing earlier, that'll be Krang" Raphael answered, "A big brain, and a major big bad up here, he's always poking his head up into our ninth cloud"

"Gee, I didn't think he was all that bad...he knew all about this wonderful ongoing thing called "soap operas", we talked for ages about it...oh Raph, I didn't mean any trouble, I just needed the copper so bad" Tobras said, clapping his hands together and expelling the magic that was pouring out of it.

"Yeah well, you should have thought about that before you started playing Slime Shady" Raphael snapped , "Gee, you're more irritating than Mr. Ogg, that other-dimensional imp from Dimension X Krang manipulated, we had a real handful with him. Come to think of it, the fact you'll risk everyone's health up here for Copper is as bad as his desire for porcelain"

"There's someone out there who likes the lure of porcelain?" Tobras asked, clasping his hands together excitedly, "Wow, that's a real upper class delicacy, you've got tell me all about him, tell me of your adventures, stories are the kingdom's new bread and butter these days, stirs up way more interest than corny drab jokes. Bliss can even entertain the king with them and gain some leverage as a storyteller, we need not fear the taxpayers again with such royal favour

"Look, I've got no time to share tales from the war up stairs ok? I need you to help my brothers out, weave whatever magic you've got, or give me something to take back with me that can restore them to normal, 'cause this whole situation is way too heavy to suddenly get all light"

"Anything to help out the guys who saved our bacon from tin grin" Tobras replied, "but you've got to make up for those awful puns you cracked at the palace, they won't let you back in, but what I can let in is all the stories you can tell me. I promise if you do this, we'll never do what we're doing up here again. We'll keep the King entertained for a whole age, and he need never even know they're about you, we'll "adapt" the stories and change things up to exclude you and the others. Give me all you've got. One after the other. In order. What do you say?"

"That's gonna take just about _every _day let alone one" Raphael said, alarmed

"No need to fear" Tobras said, producing a small diamond from his pocket and activating it. Everything around Raphael slowly began moving in slow-motion, the birds, the sun, the traffic in the distance, the fish in the lake, everything moving at a pace slower than even the average non-mutant Turtle.

"You have your wish" said Tobras, "This diamond operates on our world's linear frequency, while everything will proceed as normal for the outside world, time cannot penetrate this stasis field. You've only got the rest of your life"

Raphael took a deep breath, crouched down, got himself comfortable, and, off the top of his head, began to paint a vivid picture of the Turtles' biography with a passion and dependence on memory like no other. As if his life depended on it. Or more precisely, the lives of two.

** -0-0-0-0-0-0-**

At the lair, Michelangelo was having a difficult time operating C.I.T.Y. April leaned over to him, giving him a much needed back rub. "You ironing out the kinks in this thing?" she asked. Michelangelo shook his head

"I don't even know why the first few letters on the keyboard are "QWERTY" and not "ABCDEF" he replied, "Raph really didn't dumb the details down for me to handle"

"Cut that out, you're far from dumb" April said. Michelangelo let out a heavy sigh. He wish he could believe her, and better yet, believe in himself.

"Where did Raph go anyway?" April asked

"He just said that he was going to find something to give Don and Leo level heads again" Michelangelo replied.

Behind him, Leonardo was prodding his fingers into Donatello's arm, Donatello himself was shaking a little, feeling insecure as he lay shackled to the chair linked to the primary probing mechanism of C.I.T.Y. April ran up and pulled Leonardo away, causing him to break down in tears.

"Oh I wish I could put these two to bed already" April said as she rocked Leonardo back and forth, trying to calm his nerves, "This is reminding me of the time three of them were turned to real kids"

"You picking up Raph's gimmick right now?" Michelangelo joked. April laughed.

When she was sure Leonardo was calm, April walked over to a stack of printed papers lying on the side of the table

"I see you laid out your manuscript for me to look at" she said, skimming through the pages. Michelangelo nodded. "I just hope I've worked out all the bugs from the beta read" he said.

April kneeled down and patted the floor with her hand, "Well come on over here and we'll iron out the rest of _these_ kinks".

Michelangelo sat down beside her, April dipped into her right pocket and produced a pair of reading glasses, she put them on her face. Michelangelo took note of this.

"Bookworm" he said.

April let out a tut, took the glasses off, and popped them on Michelangelo.

"There, maybe now you'll see your typos better" she joked. Michelangelo playfully shoved her and the two settled down and began reading from the printed pages.

"You made a mistake there Mike, "bond", should be "bound" April said. Michelangelo continued, unabated, as he realized Leonardo was starting to pay attention to them.

"You also missed out a quote mark here" April continued, but the Turtle paid her no heed, he was starting to make a breakthrough. April eventually stopped and took the time to process what was happening. Leonardo began reacting to certain words, typos, poor grammar, incomplete sentences, almost willing to try and correct Michelangelo alongside her, but unable to properly articulate himself.

"This is amazing" she said, "It's like your writing is so bad that it's offending even the most basic mindset, their mental gears are working"

Michelangelo rushed over to C.I.T.Y and found the virtual landscape was changing, concepts and pictures were trying harder than ever to match up in the virtual buildings, specifically the memories dealing with connecting wording and sentence structure.

Michelangelo kept reading the story as he stood up and walked back over the computer, taking the time to read the instructions this time with a keener mind. He felt he was on to something.

"Got any more bright ideas?" April said, half-jokingly, half -optimistically.

Michelangelo took a gander at the leftover piece of cake left by Raphael, its contents still ripe with the intelligence-enhancing ingredient

"I might need to be a brighter guy for this" he said, grabbing the cake, "But once I crack this computer, I'm going to redecorate a whole C.I.T.Y"

Beaming with confidence, Michelangelo took an aggressively charged bite.


	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

In the Technodrome, Krang was wondering just how long it would take for Shredder to cool down. He continued to wave a fan in his ally's face, trying to halt the breakout of heated sweat that was running down his forehead. The bubbles around him and his mutants had long burst, but they had been like wearing greenhouses, the gas that emitted from them having generated their own unique kind of heat pattern. Krang had found the three floating in space in proximity of the moon, and had arranged transportation for them back to base before their bubbles ceased to be while they were out there.

"Oh, that's hit the spot Krang, thankyou, just wave that thing a little harder" Shredder said as Krang continued to waft the fan.

"I hate being the one to burst your bubbles" Krang said.

"Oh give me a rest Krang, if I could figure out how I got this way, I'd be bursting out at the fools who tried their hand at making a fool out of me"

"Are you sure nothing is ringing a bell?" Krang said.

The only bell Shredder could hear was the one attached to the door.

"Will you get that already?" Shredder ordered. Krang sighed, handed Shredder the fan, and opened the door, Rocksteady and Bebop both emerged, holding a small bag, Rocksteady dipped into the bag and produced a treat.

"Hey boss, have a bit of carrot cake, I got it from the bakers" Rocksteady suggested. Shredder swatted the cake out of his hench-mutant's hand.

"The only sweet thing I desire from the point forward is revenge on those blasted Turtles" Shredder bellowed.

**-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-**

Raphael wandered through the sewers, lost in thought...or just lost in general. The last few minutes had felt like hours to him, his mouth was dry, he was exasperated, he felt burned out, and yet somehow, as he looked at the small elixir in his hand, he felt the effort had been all worth it.

He only wished he could fully remember what had happened.

A few things came to mind... and his mind raced to find the meanings in the memories, but it was a race ill-suited for a Turtle as slow in the mind as he presently was. So much of what he remembered, the memories kept in place by C.I.T.Y, had become distant to him again, like something had tucked them neatly away at the back of his head, and he somehow felt it was a reward for some monumentous task he had just undertaken. A big part of him welcomed that.

All he knew now was he had a mission to complete, and that somehow, he was just about to get it done.

He made his way back to the lair, where, to his surprise, he found Leonardo and Donatello were up and about, scribbling down on pieces of paper. Raphael leaned over and saw crude images of Ace Duck and his friends exchanging comic strip dialogue. Some of the words were misspelt, but on some paper, the words had been crossed out and replaced with the corrected versions by what appeared to be April's handwriting, the other Turtles taking notes from the corrected wording and copying it into their second and third attempts at the drawings.

"Hey, we got ourselves some real wordsmiths here" Raphael remarked.

"Mikey downloaded all of his stories onto the C.I.T.Y device and projected them into Leo and Donatello, they've been having a great time acting them all out and doodling up images inspired by them, it really got their minds to matter again" April said.

"I hope that means no attempts at dinosaur droppings on their end" Raphael added.

"Not to worry bro, I kept it clean and simple" Michelangelo proudly stated.

April kissed him on the cheek, "I'm so proud of you Mike" she said, "You learned you can write a wholesome story, and you found your level"

"Raphael, you are back earlier than expected" Splinter said, "Your journey was not long?"

"I guess so...must have been a pretty fast order, like going to get a prescription at the clinic" Raphael said, producing the elixir, "I don't remember much, but I somehow know this is meant for the guys"

Splinter took the elixir from Raphael, "It is as expected that you would not remember, the world you have glimpsed is not open to many eyes for long, and when they are, they must be firmly closed to it"

"Somehow instinct is telling me not to ask you much about this, you're probably sworn to some secret club vow not to divulge anything anyway" Raphael said

Splinter beckoned April over, "When I have given this to the other Turtles, please trace the police officer struck down by Shredder earlier and give him the remainder so he too can return to normal" he instructed. April nodded.

Splinter opened the elixir and walked over to Donatello, pouring some of the contents into his mouth, Leonardo tugged at Splinter's kimono, silently making it known he wanted some of the same. Splinter obliged. It did not take long for the effects of the elixir to take effect, and soon Donatello and Leonardo were themselves again.

"Oh that's a relief, every cognitive faculty is coming back to me, I don't have to keep trying to correct Mikey's woeful spelling again" Donatello said

"Yeah, but the drawback is we'll be stuck remembering his stories for a whole lifetime, probably more so than any of our memories" Leonardo replied

"A story, however short, or flawed, always carries a message and a meaning to it my students" Splinter said, "I look forward to the many days of meditation you will spend deciphering said meanings"

"Splinter's right, it's not about what we can remember, but what new tricks we learn that define our journey. Looking back is good, but the past is just a place we've been to, the future is what always needs a map"

"Which is precisely why we should always look to all future attractions as they become available" Raphael said, leaping onto the sofa, and switching the television on, before skimming through a tv guide magazine, looking up upcoming episodes of _Slate Slabrock,_ as the rest of the Turtles, April, and Splinter laughed.

**THE END**


End file.
